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Ethier set for rehab as Kemp moving to Triple-A

Ethier set for rehab as Kemp moving to Triple-A

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PHOENIX -- Just as one Dodgers outfielder leaves Class A Rancho Cucamonga, another is gearing up to take his place.

Matt Kemp went 1-for-3 on Friday in his fourth rehab game for the Quakes before shipping off to Triple-A Albuquerque for games Saturday and Sunday, then moving on to Kansas City for the State Farm Home Run Derby, on Monday at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN.

Andre Ethier will join Rancho Cucamonga next Wednesday and Thursday before both him and Kemp will rejoin the Dodgers to start the second half of the season if all goes well.

Ethier, on the disabled list with an oblique injury, is with the club in Arizona and was not originally going to participate in rehab games.

"I'm glad he's going to play," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "It's not that he necessarily needs to play, though. If he's feeling it, we'd rather know he needs more time than activate him. If we activate him and he feels something, that's 15 more days."

Kemp, still nursing a left hamstring strain, was 6-for-14 in four games for Rancho Cucamonga. He played seven innings in center field on Friday night.

"I think he wanted to maybe step up the competition in the last couple days," Mattingly said of why the outfielder will move his rehab to Triple-A.

Even though he won't participate in the All-Star Game, on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. PT on FOX, Kemp is scheduled to lead the National League as captain for the Home Run Derby. If anything goes wrong the next three days, though, the Dodgers won't hesitate to pull him out.

"I've talked to Matt, if he feels anything at all, he's going to step out," Mattingly said. "We're not worried about Matt getting hurt at all, though. He has been hitting [batting practice] for over a month. We'd know if something was bothering him. From the beginning, the doctor was never worried about him swinging the bat, it's always been about him running."